Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1887-01-21

in them times give Tho measles an.
the hookm' cough, etcettery, the best
kind ola chance to slosh in their best
ticks, an tn bein' so much on 'em to
spare, 'twa'n' no uncommon thing fer
EN- ter visit the boys two or three
times apiece, an keep us either q
whoopin' like painter, or sRelled up
bout the jaws like q chipmunk with
two Walnuts in each chop, or broke
out like ripe pokeberries from groun'-
hog day till holIer-eve. Ajax Thun1-
ply seemed to be the fav'rit O. all them
blessin's o'childhood an worried ont
the mumps three times on both sides,
made the measles tired four different
winters, KEEP his folks awake o. nights,
an checked an ketched his breath
with a regular wild Injnn -whoop!
so long an 50 often th't the doctor
said it had set in on him to stay, an
th't nothin' less'n a good stroke O.
lightnin' d cure him. But Ajax got
fat on 'em an they all gave it up e. q
bad job. an ne come out of all on EN-
tougher'n ever. Folks said th't tn
want nothin' left that could down
Ajax Thumply, an if tn were any one
in the settlement ez doubted it he quit
doubtin' arter what happened to Ajax
one spring in the sugar bush.
Ajax were tappin' trees fer sap,
one spring, all alone in that part o.
the bush. He had bored holein one
tree, an were jst O. gointer to set his
elder-spile in it, wen swat! come sum-
pin agin his head, an he didn't quit
flynn through the air till he had gone
sumpin' like. forty foot. Ez he struck
on the groun' he looked back an see
th't ez he were tappin' the tree a big
bar mad come up ahind an tapped
him. The bar didn't wait fer Ajax
to GET up, but follered him right up.
Alex didn't hev nothin' to figth with,
SO wat does he do but play off dead,
knowing th't at th't season o'the year
bars d lug their fodder home
fore they put it inside of 'emselfs, an,
hopin' tint sumpin' ID turn up to git
him outen the scrape. The b ar shifted
round Ajax a while, an then begun
to lug him of. They hadn't gone fur,
though, wen the bar stopped an
dropped his game. Ajax opened his
eyes leetle by an by an wat does
he see but the cheerin' prospect O.
bein' slowed away in the ground, an
the bar were diggin' away for dear
life to scoop out the buryin' place. At
this Ajax kinder lost his grit a leetle,
an he couldn't hev stirred an inch if
he'd know'd it. d save his life. The
bar want long q digging the hole, an
fore Ajax scarcely know'd it he were
dumped inter it an the BAR were
shuckin' the dirt an stuns in on top
o him. Ajax were pooty near hid
lore he diskivered th't he had hung
onter the elder Spite all that time.
The Spite had half inch hole through
it from one eend to to'other The bar
had his back to Ajax jist then, shovel
in in the dirt. Quicker'n a flash
Ajax clasps one cad O. the splice to
his nose, an let's the elder stick
straight up through the dirt, and wen
the bar got through Ajax had q reg
lar chimble5' from the outside, carry
in fresh air right down to him. The
dirt bore a leetle heavy on Ajax, O.
course, but he commenced to dig it
away, KNOWN, that it were only a
dA0SVAoA 1Ah4S " GIL etIo - StE WOuLu
come back, onkiver him, ant chaw q
dinner often HIM. Ajax were jist an
hour an twenty-minutes gitten, outen
that hole, an though his grit had all
come back to him, he argyed th's it
were picnic enough to be buried alive
by bar an git out ag'in without
waitin' to be chawed up by bruin, an
so Ajax made tracks fur hum, the best
teelin' ten-year~old tn were in the
clearin'. After that everybody said
tn want nothin', fer sure, th't could
get away with Ajax ThumpIy. But
jist listen 'eetle more.
II dom s'pose th't you'd have the
cheek to say th't you're ez tough ez
Ajax were, Peleg, an yit see how he
ended up. One day, not long arter be
were buried alive, he were havin' a
leetle discussion with boy bout
sumpin' th't Aiax's poor OF gran pop
had or hadn't done. Sumpin' sim lar,
come to think ON it, to this Bill Sim
mons way O. dom business. The
boy pooty soon said to Ajax th't if it
want so wat he said th't Ajax could
come over to his house an have all
the cider he he could take inter him
through q straw. Well, it Want so
an Ajax went an sucked cider,
through a straw. Now just to see
Peleg; this tough boy, who had got
fat an tougher the more he had the
measles, tine mumps, the hookin' cough,
etcettery-an' you've only had 'em
wunst-an' who was buried alive by
a bar adj dug hisself out-w'ich you
amt never done yet-went an sucked
cider through a straw, come back
home an was took to his bed with it,
an what the measles an sech an the
buryin' alive couldn't do to Ajax
Thumply, the cider through u straw
done in short order. Fore it had
tackled Ajax an hour he was ready
to be buried dead."%
The Old Settler paused. Peleg was
so affected by. the recital that he
simply looked amazed and said moth
ing. Presently his grandfather said:
"Now my son, if Ajax only had CARR
ed that cider hum to his poor oleran'.
pop, th'hain't no doubt but th't he d
ha' been here to-day tellin' his story
hissef, an how much better his gran.
pop would ha' felt. You kin find q
pitcher right there in the cupboard,
Peleg." -. -
., Peleg found the pitcher, and hurried
over to Bill Simmons with IT. The
Old Settler resumed his boot greasing.
'"Thuz nothin like pertectin' the vel
fare o. yer gran children vile they'm
Young" said he, ''fer wen they git old
yecan't" Ed. Morn.
His Composition. ~
M Most OF Ms can remember our early